LearnDash Private Sessions is a premium WordPress plugin that brings personalized coaching, private messaging, and direct instructor-student communication into LearnDash LMS. It allows course administrators and group leaders to create private coaching sessions, exchange messages, share files, and provide individual guidance without moving conversations outside their learning platform.
Designed for online educators, tutors, coaches, and training providers, this LearnDash add-on helps turn self-paced courses into more interactive learning experiences.
Key Features of LearnDash Private Sessions
One-on-One Coaching Sessions
Create private coaching conversations between instructors and individual learners. Administrators and LearnDash group leaders can initiate sessions with selected students, making it easier to provide personalized support throughout their learning journey.
Each session provides a dedicated discussion space accessible only to its participants.
Private Messaging Between Instructors and Students
Keep coaching conversations organized within your LearnDash website.
- Start private discussions with individual learners.
- Exchange messages directly through your website.
- Respond to student questions and provide personal feedback.
- Maintain separate conversations for different learners.
- Allow participants to return to their existing discussions.
This communication system is particularly useful for tutoring, mentoring, and courses that require individual instructor attention.
File Sharing and Attachments
Instructors and learners can upload files within their private discussions.
This functionality supports practical learning activities such as:
- Sharing educational resources and reference materials.
- Reviewing student-submitted documents.
- Exchanging assignments and supporting files.
- Providing personalized learning materials.
- Discussing documents within an ongoing coaching session.
Customizable Email Notifications
Keep participants informed when their coaching conversations receive new activity.
LearnDash Private Sessions supports email notifications when new sessions are created or replies are posted.
Administrators can customize notification messages using dynamic variables, including recipient names, sender names, message content, website names, and session links.
Unread Message Indicators
Make private conversations easier to discover with visible message indicators.
- Notify participants about unread session messages.
- Display session indicators throughout the website.
- Configure indicator placement at the top, bottom, or side of the screen.
- Help learners return to conversations requiring their attention.
These indicators improve communication visibility without requiring students to repeatedly check their session pages.
Appointment Scheduling Integration
LearnDash Private Sessions integrates with Simply Schedule Appointments, a separate WordPress scheduling plugin.
When the scheduling plugin is installed and configured, learners can book appointments directly through their LearnDash learning environment.
This integration is useful for arranging individual coaching appointments, tutoring sessions, and instructor consultations.
Customizable Appearance
Adapt the coaching interface to your website’s existing design.
Configuration options include:
- Custom accent colors.
- Adjustable text colors.
- Configurable message indicator positioning.
- Flexible placement of private session content.
- Compatibility with different WordPress themes.
These settings help maintain visual consistency between your courses and coaching features.
Shortcode Support
LearnDash Private Sessions includes shortcodes for placing coaching functionality on WordPress pages.
Available shortcodes include:
[private_sessions]– Displays private sessions associated with the current user.[create_session]– Displays the session creation interface for authorized users.[sessions_widget]– Provides access to new and existing sessions.[sessions_text_link]– Displays a text link to messages with an unread-message count.
Selected shortcodes also support access settings that can extend session creation visibility to additional user roles.
LearnDash Group Leader Integration
The plugin works with LearnDash’s existing administrator and group leader functionality.
Group leaders can initiate private coaching conversations with learners, allowing educational organizations to manage personalized guidance within their established LearnDash structure.
Mobile-Friendly Communication
The interface is designed to support communication across desktop computers, tablets, and mobile devices, helping learners stay connected with their instructors while accessing courses on different screens.
How LearnDash Private Sessions Works
The plugin provides a straightforward workflow for creating and managing coaching conversations.
- Install and activate the plugin on a WordPress website using LearnDash.
- Configure the private session settings under LearnDash settings.
- An administrator or authorized group leader starts a new coaching session.
- Select the learner and enter an introductory message.
- The learner receives an email notification about the session.
- Both participants can exchange messages and upload files in their private discussion.
- New-message indicators and email notifications help participants follow subsequent replies.
The plugin can also create a dedicated private sessions page, which administrators can customize using the available shortcodes.
Who Should Use This Plugin?
Online Course Creators
Add individual coaching opportunities to self-paced online courses and provide learners with a dedicated communication channel.
Tutors and Private Instructors
Manage student questions, exchange learning materials, and provide one-on-one educational assistance.
Professional Coaches
Offer personalized guidance and ongoing communication to clients enrolled in LearnDash-based coaching programs.
Educational Institutions
Support student mentoring and individual instructor feedback within an organized learning environment.
Training and Membership Websites
Enhance courses and learning programs with private communication and individualized support.
Why Choose LearnDash Private Sessions?
Traditional online courses often provide limited opportunities for direct interaction between instructors and learners.
LearnDash Private Sessions addresses this limitation by integrating private conversations into the existing learning experience.
Instead of relying entirely on external messaging tools, instructors can communicate with their students through their WordPress website, exchange relevant documents, and keep coaching discussions connected to their learning platform.
With email notifications, configurable message indicators, flexible shortcodes, and optional appointment scheduling integration, the plugin provides practical tools for personalized online education.
Bring Personalized Coaching to LearnDash
LearnDash Private Sessions is a practical solution for course creators who want to combine structured online learning with direct instructor support. Its private messaging, file sharing, notification features, and LearnDash integration make it suitable for educational websites where personalized communication matters.
Add LearnDash Private Sessions to your learning platform and create a more connected coaching experience for your students.
